The Phillies return home from a rough 1-5 road trip Friday to open a three game set with the hottest team in baseball, the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers, who own a six game lead in the N.L. West, have won eight straight ball games and nine of their last 10 and 13 of their last 14 games.

Cliff Lee will be on the hill for the Phillies, coming off a tough Phillies loss in Washington in which he gave up three runs in six innings of work but earned a no decision. Lee has not won a game since July 5, suffering losses in his last three decisions. The left-hander has faced the Dodgers six times in his career and has performed very well against them, posting a 2-1 record and 1.40 ERA. Earlier this year he went seven innings and allowed three runs while striking out 10 at Dodger Stadium.

The Phillies will have to work through one of the hottest pitchers in the game in Zack Greinke. Greinke has won seven of his last eight decisions, and is coming off a terrific start against the red-hot Rays, in which he threw 6 1/3 shutout innings and struck out seven batters. In his career, Greinke is 2-1 with a 3.27 ERA against the Phillies, but did allow four runs on 12 hits to them in his last start against them on June 27.

This strange beer brings out the classic blackberry flavor with hints of citrus. The blackberry flavor is fairly strong and very unique, especially paired with coriander as opposed to traditional hops. When the team isn’t going too well maybe it is time to shake things up and try something unconventional.

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50 Comments

Gametime

August 16, 2013 at 6:54 pm

Thank you Charlie for all you did here in Philly. I wish the spoiled brats with the fat wallets and heads would have played for what they were getting paid. They have no pride or hustle and it showed. This was the real problem behind the losing team. You did you best over the years and for that I thank you. I wish you the best going forward I hope this next season in you life brings you as much joy as you brought to the true Philly fans. Your knowledge of the game and how it should be played has no equal in my book.
May God continue bless you and your family as you take your next step. You will be missed.

5th inning Sunday sounds pretty good, BUT, this isn’t to say anything about Charlie, but who knows, maybe you win the Met bet off the managerial change. He’d certainly said it all in 9 years, maybe the fresh voice gets ’em, 2-3 more wins, which might be the difference.

Absolutely lackadaisical play. Couldn’t agree with you more, Ken.
And (IMO) lack of basics.
The combo is disastrous.
Players who don’t hustle to first on grounders.
Outfielders who don’t know how to get in front of a ball.
Single A quality pitchers who don’t pay attention to base runners or back up bases on fielding plays.
Terrible plate judgment.
The list goes on.

I think if you watch Ashe some, you’ll like him. This half year of exposure will be good for him. Very athletic, and as they mentioned on the broadcast, Charlie liked his short, quick stroke. Plus, those 2 good defensive plays weren’t flukes.

I wrote some thoughts the other day on Brown batting leadoff. I really feel they oughta fool around with that with a lot of wins don’t mean much baseball coming up. No better time to experiment, and I look at Heyward’s success in the short term, and feel it’s worth a look.

“It almost was to the point where I teared up a little bit,” Victorino told FOXSports.com on Friday night before the Red Sox played the Yankees. “That seven years from 2005 to 2011, that run we had in Philly, that was one of the greatest runs they’ve had in that sport, in that city.

“His contract was up. We all knew the situation. But to have it happen this way, I don’t know if Charlie came out and said, ‘If that is what is going to happen, let’s do it now.’ It doesn’t matter. It still hurts to see it end the way it did.”

And Werth, by the way, called Charlie the best manager he’s played for.

People think the big story on Action News is Charlie splitting. Course deep down, they realize this is barely news, more social reaction, a mere paving of the way until somebody else goes bye-bye, and even then, for all I know, there still may be more change higher up needed.

But a mere distraction to the real news of the day. The Phils call up BJ Rosenberg on the same day the pitching rich A’s recall Sonny Gray. BJ Rosenberg. He wasn’t too good when the Phils were good. Wonder how he’ll do now.

I played right field on my high school team. Had a major league arm, but unfortunately, a little league everything else. Still, I never let a ball get by me even though I wasn’t a great fielder. I’d take a shot in the chest, chin or sack just to keep the ball it in front of me. My coach managed to teach that to me and the other outfielders after on our first day of practice.

The concept doesn’t seem to be something that should elude any player who plays on any level of organized baseball. My coach also taught us to run hard on routine grounders since the sight of a runner busting it down the line can cause a rushed throw. He taught us to disguise a bunt until the last second to keep the infield back and still get the bat in place. Ashburn would puke watching these guys misplay (and not play) the basics.

Dom Brown and John Mayberry shouldn’t be struggling out there. They both have the brains and natural talent to be better fielders. It just seems like there’s no coaching of basics on a major league level – at least on this team and there needs to be. The little bit of help at the plate that Brown got from Joyner seemed to help immensely without demoting Dom back to the minors for the umpteenth time.

Maybe the team should hire my old high school coach if he didn’t retire already. He’d probably be about 85-years-old by now.

Great to see quality ABs from the veterans on this team. Jimmy needs to sit. He has no gas in the tank he’s just weak. Dear Chase, thanks for putting your bat on the ball in a big spot. PS Please sit John Mayberry forever.

Went to last nights game and let me just say the difference was astounding!
Players looked crisp, Utley at his finest – clutch hitting and fielding, strong effort all around..
Oh, then I woke up – 2 hits going into the 8th, no runs – altogether 5 walks and 3 hits. The Phils had a runner on third base twice last night, yup.. real exciting stuff.

Sandberg has work to do in the clubhouse. It is not a happy place. Aside from a pocket of young guys with eager eyes and hopeful futures, there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of togetherness. There is finger pointing. The fun is gone. That’s understandable because losing is not fun. The lack of togetherness is also somewhat understandable considering that Jonathan Papelbon recently indicated that he did not come here for this. Those comments did not sit well with a number of players who wondered, whatever happened to We’re all in this together? In this summer when we pray for Darren Daulton, a man who led a great Phillies team with those words, that concept seems to have escaped the team’s closer. The clubhouse has been a dour place ever since Papelbon’s self-serving comments and the clubhouse, as they say, leads to the playing field.

On the day he spoke out, Papelbon suggested changes were needed from top to bottom.

Well, time for me to weigh in I guess. Been gone for a week with very little access to the internet (really very little DESIRE) and I come back to this crap. Jesus. My favorite manager since Earl Weaver in the late 60s and all through the 70s has been treated really poorly in my opinion.

I get that Charlie wasn’t returning to the dugout next year. I even said on this blog a few weeks ago that a managerial change was probably necessary. And I also sort of get the logic of having Sandberg get his “feet wet”. At this point in this horrible season it’s all about talent evaluation and I suppose that includes Mr. Sandberg himself..

HOWEVER……

Doing it this way to this guy at this time is totally classless. Christ, the man was asked to leave on the day that that they were supposed to honor him pre-game for his 1,000th victory. Huh??? What kind of treatment is that???…The man is loyal to the core, shows his players that by showing up every day ready to put on the uniform he loves…and they can’t show him a little loyalty back by just allowing him to finish the goddam season??!!

Not that it really matters at all or anyone important will even notice, cause it doesn’t and they won’t…but my few dollars won’t be going to this team for the remainder of this season. I’ll continue to watch and I’ll continue to participate here at PN. I’ll follow the team because I’m a Phillies fan. But I WON’T go to any more games this season as my own personal little boycott.

And to Charlie — Best of luck to you…whether you manage somewhere else or you return to this team in some capacity down the road. I’m sincerely glad that I had the opportunity to exchange a few words with you at a couple of Spring Trainings. It wasn’t much but you took the time to look up from whatever bat or ball you were signing and look me right in the eye when giving your response. That means a lot to me and i will cherish those moments forever and consider them some of the best of my baseball-watching life

Since you posted the Ford piece as well as Murphy’s, I’d like to comment that your addition of 2 local writers not afraid to criticize Amaro is sort of like math that states 1 apple and 1 orange = 2 fruits. Obviously, a large market paper isn’t gonna house the long career Bob Ford has had, but most anytime you go into an article by Ford, or John Smallwood, you should anticipate a negative angle. Just because Ford attacked Amaro, or criticized him, is not real reason to laud him because it’s his kind of subject, negativity, in this case toward Ruben. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t write some very readable stuff, but that’s how I perceive him. Only a fool would quibble with Murphy’s abilities.

I know some people have this perception of the press being too soft on RAJ. I suppose you might, just by suggesting there are 2 that have stood up to his frequent misjudgments.

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I don’t see it that way. I think it’s a lot more widespread than that when you extend it beyond just the major media outlets. And while David Montgomery should never run the club based largely or solely on media or mass opinion, he’s got to notice the extent and volume of blame Ruben is getting in the past 24 hours. Everyone knew that disfavor was coming, but not necessarily the extent of it, which I’d say surpasses expectations. Hopefully, that works toward a good result sooner than later.

First of all, it was discussed on this blog as early as spring training and seen as advantageous to Charlie in terms of proximity to his home in West Virginia, with the major question being would Mike Rizzo even be interested.. But it’s discussed in 2 places today, my guess being the first article gave birth to the second. To me, it’s all premature as I would think a couple days off will lead Charlie to recognizing it’s good to take a break from the garbage that this disaster had become. But note the fan reaction in the Hardball Talk piece. It’s pretty unanimous, pretty enthusiastic, and the whole thing should get some play in the coming weeks. But working with Mike Rizzo? I dunno.

If it was discussed on this blog I missed it completely. But I do have days where I just can’t read through every comment, so I definitely believe you KB.

In my mind, Jayson Werth’s opinion probably matters some to the Nationals, but not enough to sway them. I’d have a hard time believing they’d go “old” again. IMO- it’s one of those “Been there, done that” type of deals.

Either that, or I just can’t stand the thought of Charlie down there so so much, that I’m in denial. (yes, there are 2 so’s, it’s not a typo)

Lefty – I can’t stand that thought either but if it WERE to actually happen I might actually root for the guy. Seriously. Why not?? I’m not saying I would be a Nats fan. No. Of course not. But I have such high regard for Charlie Manuel that if he he were to win another WFC down there I would be extremely happy for him.

“I’d have a hard time believing they’d go “old” again. IMO- it’s one of those “Been there, done that” type of deals.”

Old has little or zero to do with it. Only way it relates is marketability, and Charlie’s quite marketable. What matters are the candidates, their individual traits. If there is a competition, Charlie, like any other candidate gets judged by Rizzo’s priorities. Charlie’s a lot different than Davey. The individuality is what will be judged , maybe some similarities and if they are perceived strengths. Not something superficial like age. If I’m guessing, Rizzo might want somebody he can work with. He might see a Dave Martinez as more likely to put up with his control tendencies. That’s more likely to be why he’d hire him, not because he’s so much younger. And Rizzo might eliminate Charlie right away, too. We have to remember amidst all this justified Charlie appreciation that some people don’t care for Charlie’s pen usage, or game strategies, and Rizzo might be one of them. THAT could be a factor, and is an age absent point.

From where I sit, if Charlie gets as far as an interview, it means Mike’s receptive to the idea and Charlie’s got a great shot.